New Imagery for Google Earth – June 2nd!

June 2, 2007

[UPDATED several times]
Google has just released new imagery for Google Earth (exit GE and re-load it if you had it turned on over night). Most of the UK is now in high resolution. It appears there are many new strips of DigitalGlobe satellite photography in many parts of the world. I expect the full list wil contain many more countries. I’m working on gathering details and will summarize them here. So, re-load this post today to get the growing list. Also, check the comments below for other details from other GEB readers.
See below for the official update.

Germany now looks much better thanks to special color mapping techniques which were used for Switzerland previously!

More details coming! By the way, you can use the new handy “Google Maps” button in GE 4.1 to compare the new imagery in Google Earth. It hasn’t been pushed to Google Maps yet. Special thanks to María who first alerted me to the update this morning by E-mail and with this post (Spanish).

About Frank Taylor

Frank Taylor started the Google Earth Blog in July, 2005 shortly after Google Earth was released. He worked in 3D graphics for many years and was very impressed with this exciting product. Frank left in 2009 to circumnavigate the earth by sailboat as part of the Tahina Expedition.

Well, while on the one hand it is true, that Germany now seems to be looking better at first sight (and at larger scale), on the other hand it seems to look more coarse if you zoom in. It may be just a feeling (since I have not saved any screenshots before for comparison), but the color optimization may have been good for “green” areas of countryside but not so for populated areas.
Ans by the way: What really really still is missing is the island of Heligoland (54.18°,7.89°)!

Glad to finally hear some news. Not too much for Melbourne, Australia. There is a new layer of aerial photography over and around the CBD at the same quality as before. The new imagery is also minus clouds and cloud shadows which is good news but it should be at least par to Sydney’s imagery. (Have a look at http://www.whereis.com, search for Melbourne, Victoria and have a look at the very high resolution imagery they have there. Huge difference between them and Google Earth.) Having a look at the MCG and Telstra Dome, it looks like it was taken maybe October 06. The Eureka Tower is completed.
Sydney: Looks like no updates (but bare in mind super high resolution was added earlier this year including the mega high resolution Australia Day Google Flyover photos.) Some areas though are really (and I mean really) out of date. I’m talking 2004. The Theme Park Wonderland is still there intact and the new M7 freeway is still just grass.
Brisbane / Gold Coast: Looks like Brisbane CBD photography is updated because The Gabba grandstand now circles the whole ground. Confirmed this with Digital Globe data layer. No update for the Gold Coast.
Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Hobart: Looks like no updates but I may be wrong. I’m a Melburnian so I’m not the best person to notice changes in other cities.
But the Digital globe 2007 layer highlights many areas around Australia with yellow squares where there is currently no high resolution photography. Maybe these updates are still being processed. Can someone clarify?

I was just looking round England there and it occurred to me to have a look for the Glastonbury Festival site. Of course, it’s all just fields at the moment, but you should try and get a shot of the site during festival time, as I’m sure it will look impressive viewed from above

Wow!
I’m from Greenland, at the moment living in austria, and i never imagined they’d once put nuuk (my hometown population ca. 15,000) into high res! However vienna, austria (where i currently live) still has the image dating from 2003 where half the city is under clouds.
Thanks for nuuk google earth!
Uka

I am very please with the updates although very disappointed at the age of the images especially in England. My old school still has images from probably six years ago as the history classrooms still haven’t appeared on the outside.

The “special color mapping techniques” do *not* improve the images in Germany (IMHO). It may look better with a very low zoom level, but as soon as you zoom in especially to habitated areas, the images look overexposed and blurred. You can see the difference by switching to Google maps where there still are the old colors.
I really would prefer the previous coloring, or maybe have the new mapping at certain zoom levels only.

Hi
I have sent this E-mail from Iran.For many times i have tried to download google earth,but each time i failed.Google earth show me this massage”this product is not available in your country” what is the problem? Why google earth can not be download in my country?

why can’t they get some hi-res imagery of Normandy France already…other than the Gold and Sword beach area. 63 years later and it still gets no respect.
You have no idea how many of us WWII buffs are looking for this.

I live in El Centro, California and use google earth a lot for work purposes. I notice recently that there is imagery that is older then the one the had before. I don’t know the reason why you have done that and if you can place back the newer imagery or give me and understanding why you would replace newer imagery with an older one.
Thank,
John

Does anybody know when is google planini to improve thre images in former Yugoslavia. For egzample; I live im Mostar (poulation of 110 000) and it izsalmost invizible while , some townos much smaller can be seen very clearly? PS: I vanted to ad some building, the stadium and the “old bridge” that is part of the UNESCO heritage, but there is no sense. Thanks, and sory for my bad English.

There’s new high-res image over the area of taiping, part of Perak, Malaysia. That’s Ok, but i hope that GE covers more area in Klang Valley, the most populous area in Malaysia. Area of Klang, Shah Alam, Rawang and Seremban are not yet covered while in Kuala Lumpur the hi-res image dates back to early 2004.

hi,
i try to upload 3d model into google earth, but i cannot place the model to the exact location (Sungai Petani, Malaysia) because the image is too blur. Any solution or suggestion to fix this problem.
thanks

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